Death Valley
by MysticRyter
Summary: Last year went by , and she couldn't quite remember why. She just figured keeping to herself was a good idea. After all, no one notices anything wrong when you're quiet. Even if the quiet ones are the ones to watch out for.


**This was originally a Stiles/OC idea, but as I continued to write, I felt that she didn't work too well with the guy. Her relationship with Isaac will be slow, and rocky, but I'm pretry excited!**

**So with that said, on with the show!**

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There were only so many ways to tell the same story without beginning to sound clichéd; eventually, they became redundant and repetitive. Just like that first statement. There were so many ways to approach the first day: dread, excitement, et cetera. Then there was that unspoken word. It was simple really, like it wasn't buried inside a dictionary. Most who were teenagers knew it, and it wasn't special enough to be on an SAT vocab list.

_Potential_.

All of the new stuff—new faces, new school, new locker room smell—held that unbridled hope that was either bursting or buried. But there wasn't any denying that it was there. It was beautiful, really. That innate spark of something different.

High expectations led to a soul crushing emotional black hole of suck. Entering the brick structure masquerading as a school—damn thing looked like a prison. Anyone who disagreed must've lived in one. Who knows? Delusions could easily extend to taste in architecture.

Speaking of new, one couldn't forget the house. That took some getting used to, ending up in the kitchen expecting the bathroom. If Tanaya had been a toddler, she would've been done, wetting the hardwood right there. And if that happened, the mess would just disappear. Thanks Mom.

At this age, that hypothetical incident would serve as blackmail material, shelved for embarrassing inside jokes, and her twenty-first birthday. About six more years to plan some way to avoid personal humiliation. And social humiliation floating around Facebook, if Facebook would still be relevant in six years.

And Tanaya had exactly one day before the tsunami of new faces, new school, and new locker room smell would sweep her off her feet. If she had it her way, she'd have no problem with letting her GPA drop to maybe a 3.5. According to Mom, trying to find the last stack of clothes in a cardboard box that apparently vanished off the face of the Earth is not a good reason to not be making the A.

Collapsing onto her bed, Tanaya groaned, pressing her hands over her face, muffling a scream. She had an Ikea desk to reassemble, a bookshelf to move, knickknacks to put on the windowsill, and tomorrow she'd be braving the hurricane that is high school.

The move had been pretty sudden, and for no solid reason, now that she thought about it. Her mom wasn't military, she was pretty sure it wasn't a job thing—she couldn't quite remember. She did remember asking, but other than the emphasis on a new school and schedule, she was pretty sure she was more or less brushed off. More or less.

She never considered herself someone who absolutely dreaded the first day. Sure she was meat in some cases, she was sure most of everyone wouldn't really care, and the fact that those who took their time to make sure she was miserable weren't really worth her time. In fact, those who spent most of their lives in their own city dreaded it more than she did.

Dragging herself to get rid of those freaking cardboard boxes, she tossed the stack down the stairs haphazardly, carrying a few and kicking the rest by the garbage sitting on the curb. She yawned in unison with her stomach, following its cries to the kitchen.

Her mom had already microwaved the frozen alfredo, setting the plastic tray on the counter. She gave Tanaya an amused smile, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. She kept glancing at the windows, like she was expecting something to jump out of the dark.

She was tense.

"Frozen dinners," Tanaya did her best to ooze sarcasm out of every pore of her body. "Dinner of champions. Yay."

With her mom scoping out the room like a murderer could jump in at any moment, she decided to do what she did best in an awkward situation: eat. Okay, so maybe she attempted to initiate a conversation. Cue her mom's lack of response.

In all honesty, she was good with just leaving the counter, chucking her trash, and burying herself in bed until the next morning. So that's what she did. The next morning would be freaking chaotic.

Freaking great.

Even though she was exhausted, she couldn't fall asleep. She knew she was tired, and she was definitely aware that her eyelids were heavy. Her brain wasn't on the same wavelength. Her thoughts kept jumping from school to her mom, to how twitchy she was getting, and it wasn't from the prospect of being appraised by a percentage of the student body (and subsequently ignored). It wasn't like she had wisps of electricity that had her clenching and unclenching her fingers. That was nervous. That was antsy.

She had the pit in her gut from constantly wanting to look around, to look behind her, despite lying down. She was twitchy. She couldn't freaking sleep while someone was watching her.

Wait, what?

Tanaya jumped out bed, glancing out the window. Out of the corner of her eye, she could've sworn she saw a blob of something. Then it was gone. In all honesty, it might as well be a cat. It could've been a crazed wild animal, and she swore she wouldn't get out of bed again. Not with a school day looming over her head.

She buried her head under the covers. Another first day was coming, and she was gonna kick its ass.

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**I know it starts off slow, and it'll be pretty light on the interaction with Stiles, Scott, and basically everyone else. I think I'm going to try establishing her before really establishing how she's going to interact with everyone else. I'll try to work Isaac in there too.**

**Reviews are appreciated, tell me what you think! :D**


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